Ex Astris Scientia - Redresses of the Reptohumanoid Ship

Redresses of the Reptohumanoid Ship
by Jörg Hillebrand and Bernd Schneider

One of the first CGI models of Star Trek Voyager was the vessel of the unnamed reptile-humanoid species in VOY: "Parturition". The model was then used for three more species in the series, each time with a couple of modifications. In chronological order we could see the CGI as:

The CGI model may have been present in ENT: "Broken Bow" at Rigel X too, but was hardly recognizable.

Reptohumanoid ship In its original appearance the CGI model consists of a streamlined main hull with large delta-shaped wings into which the slender engine nacelles are embedded. A distinct oval section with a cavity much like the deflector on a Federation starship can be found on the fore end of the vessel, connected to the nacelle front tips with comparably thin struts. This is the actual orientation of the Reptohumanoid ship; the pointed end is really the aft end unlike common sense may tell us when we just look at the stills! Something remarkable is that the color of the forward section (with the exception of the crest atop) and the struts is brownish, unlike the rest of the ship which appears to be almost plain gray. The deflector and small parts of the nacelles are purple. There are many illuminated window rows, indicating that the ship must be very large.

Vidiian ship type 2 For this ship of Vidiian design in VOY: "Deadlock" the model was altered. Most obviously the front end with the deflector was totally removed. The orientation of the Reptohumanoid ship was retained though. On the Vidiian ship, however, struts run from the nacelle aft ends to the ship's aft end to which some sort of engine exhaust was added. The Reptohumanoid ship had no visible impulse engines whatsoever. The color was changed too, now varying from bright brown to ochre. The lighting of the windows may have remained exactly the same, whereas the engine color is orange instead of purple. The model returned in VOY: "Fury", with slight revisions, essentially only to the tentacles that are used to cut holes into an enemy ship's hull.

Dralian vessel The ship model was modified again to represent Gar's vessel in VOY: "Critical Care". The deflector housing of the Reptohumanoid ship was added again, but now it acts as the aft section, the previous deflector now being the engine exhaust. The additional parts of the Vidiian ship are not present. The most significant alteration of the CGI model is that a cockpit window was added, along with other structures on the dorsal side, obviously to insinuate that the vessel is a lot smaller than in its previous incarnations. As a matter of course the many window rows were removed (or rather not illuminated) for the Dralian version. The ship also has a different color. It is overall beige, maybe greenish, with several clearly green areas. The lighting of the engines is much more extensive than on the corresponding parts of the Reptohumanoid version, and is yellow instead of purple. The Fact Files depiction of this vessel is correct.

Nygean prison transport Finally the CGI model could be seen in VOY: "Repentance" as the Nygean prison transport. This ship is essentially identical to the original Reptohumanoid version. The hull color may be uniform on the Nygean ship though. The only significant difference is that the Nygean ship has the opposite orientation, the same as the Dralian ship. We come to that conclusion because it obviously has to be the engine section that is burning when Voyager comes to help the vessel in distress. The very aft end of the engine may be yellow unlike the purple shine of the intact part of the nacelles, but most likely the yellow color is just because of the fire. The Fact Files depiction of this vessel is incorrect because it actually shows the Dralian version.

Ship type	Episode	CGI re-use of	Configuration	Hull color	Engine color
Reptohumanoid ship	VOY: "Parturition"	-	Original configuration, with oval shape facing forward	Gray and brown	Purple
Vidiian ship type 2	VOY: "Deadlock", "Fury"	-	Oval shape removed, additional aft end (engines)	Ochre/brown	Orange
Dralian vessel	VOY: "Critical Care"	-	Oval shape added again, ship turned 180°	Greenish	Yellow
Nygean prisoner transport	VOY: "Repentance"	Reptohumanoid ship	Original configuration, ship turned 180°	Brownish	Purple


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	Last modified: 09.05.06
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